Tire-armor.



W. K. KIGHT.

TiRE ARMOR.

APPLiCATION FILED JULY 10. 1913.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. K.K1GHT.

HRE ARMOR.

APPL|CATION FILED JULY 10' 1913.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

6 O t w a v n6 J after/nu 5 at greater or less number of me be employed if found necessary. It will also be apparent, by reference to the said figure, a when the wheel is rotated in the direction indiceted hy the arrow, the rollers indithe numerals 8- andS will contact respectively with the forward well of the opening in the uppermost one of the ears 9 end the lower wall of the opening; in the foremost one. By reason of such engagen'ient oi the rollers against the walls of the apertures the ears, traction gorce is plied directiyto the tire armor end the tire is relieved of the dragging force to whieh it is suhgected when allowed to contact directly with the road-surface It will he further observed from an inspection of the said Fig.

sudden impact, the armor may/yield up-' werdly and reerwurdly with respect to the direction in which the tire is traveling without, however, on way disturbing the engageinlnt of the rollers 8 8? or the other rollers when occupying the position assumed "by these rollers in l i l, or approximate positions, against the wells of openings in the respective or similarly located ears 9.- l uri'hermore, it will be apperent that due to the character of the armor end the manner in whieh it arranged on the tire, the armor en tire yield in a direction to most eil'ectually cushion the wheel and the Vehicle body supported thereby and consequently, the wheel meets with less resistance when it contacts with ruts or ln order to exclude dust and dirt from the interior oi the armor, flexible annular dust guard sheets 11 are provided and are seedges of the side nor-trons of the saidimepes cured at their outer edges as at 12 to the edges of the side portions of the body 1 and at their inner edge portions are fitted as at 13 between the inner side of the tire casing 93 and the walls of the channel in the rim 3. These sheets are, of course, normally segged as shown in Fig. 4 to allow for floating oi the armor. v-

The body'l of the armor is provided with a. tread consisting of an annular transversely curved body member 1% which is riveted or otherwise secured as at 15st its edge portions to the tread surface of the body 1 in the manner shown in l and 5 and which is provided with a circumferentially extending series of o 5 rkidding ribs 16, which, as shown in Fig. 210? the drawings, are 013 V- shape and as shown in Fig. 3 may" he seesrete or disconnected but arranged at an angle with respect to each other, substantially *as in the said Fig. 2. It will of course, he

understood that these anti-skidding ribs pro vide for smore effectual contact of the armor with the road surface, as well as pre venting skidding of the wheels' Furthermore, they serve to destroy suction force which is present beneath the trend of e pneumatic tire when traveling directly upon the road surface and which force, of course, offers resistance to the travel of thewheel over such surface. It will be understood, of course, that the tread 14 serves effectually to prevent wear of the tread portion of the body 1 of the armor and that when it itself becomes worn it may be readily removed and a new trend portion substituted therefor. As before stated, the invention aims to pro vide against such frictional. contact of the armor with the tire as will unduly heat the tire and thereby deteriorate the rubber of which it is composed and to this end the" tread 14 and the tread portion of the'hody 1 are formed at intervals and between the ribs 16 with air passages 17 which are gradually increased in diameter rom their inner to their outer ends, or in oi ier words, from. their ends which communicate with the iii-- terior of the body 1 to their ends which open at the outer surface of the tread 14c. As concerns this feature of the invention, it will be readily understood that when the tire is compressed and expanded so as to practically close and fill the spaces 4 a greater or less volume of the air will be forced through the opening 17 and consequently expel from the body 1, and it will further be apparent that as the tire assumes its normal shape a greater or less volume of air will bei drawn in by the suction force created through the said openings and will be caused to clrculute about the tire. By increasing-the diameter of the openings 111 the direction of their outer ends, dust and dirt is prevented from lodging therein. It Wlll be observed by reference to Fig. 6, that the openingsdo not extend radially but extend on lines which are chords of the circle described by the tread. This inclination of the openings further serves to prevent clogging thereof inasmuch as each opening as it reaches a position where its open end meets the surface of the road, is

v inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the road surface and this angle of inclination increases as the wheel revolves. Furthermore, inasmuch as the openings are inclined or extend at an angle away from the direction of rotation of the wheel, a suction force is exerted to a greater or less degree as the wheel is rapidly rotating which, of course, aids in creating a circulation of air within the armor and about the tire.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is;

In combination, a rim provided at inter vals with inwardly extending lugs, a 'tire fitted to the rim, a metallic protector encirextending inward cling the tire and having its side portions extending along the sides of the tire and spaced therefrom, flexible bands spanning the spaces between the edges of the protector and Tim and attached to each and having a, fullness'between their edges, opposed cars from the edges or the protector and arranged exterior to the flexible bands and extending along opposite sides of the lugs ofthe rim and having openings in their end portions, pins supported in the lugs with their ends projecting, and rollers mounted upon the projecting ends of the pins and arranged in the openings of the ears.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM K. KIGHT. [1,. s.]

Witnesses:

I'IENRY W. Knnsrnnn,

WILLIAM T. Down. 

